Lake Township’s post office opened in 1827, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns · #450 of 993 in Ohio. What drives it
Most of Lake Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 5 buildings. Below: maps from 1901 on and the census since 1820.
The Lake Township post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Greene (1814), Lake (1827) and Midway (1830), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 588 in 18202020 census: 30,324199 years
How historic is Lake Township?
B+
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Lake Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Lake Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake Township is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns, #450 of 993 in Ohio. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lake Township’s overall grade.
Ohio towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Ohio town has 2.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Lake Township’s 2.6 sits near the middle of its state (55% of Ohio towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share (±1.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Lake Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lake Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1901Canton sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Lake Township.
The story so far
Lake Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lake Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Lake Township is one of the seventeen townships of Stark County, Ohio, United States. It is an urban township; the 2020 census found 30,324 people in the township.
Its first post office opened in 1827. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 29,961 in 2010, 30,324 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Lake Township in 1916
Passages that mention Lake Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A standard history of Stark County, Ohio1916 · page 525Read the page →
Read the text
wounded and died on August 13, 1863. At the funeral there was such a concourse of mourners as had never been seen in old ‘ ‘ Pike. ’ ’ Hartville Hartville, situated in the northeastern part of Lake Township, is today one of the most prosperous villages in Stark County. It has a population of approximately 600. It has railroad facilities by means of the Wheeling & Lake Railroad. It is an unincorporated village but the citizens have formed what is known as the Hartville Improvement
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
A standard history of Stark County, Ohio1916 · page 570Read the page →
Read the text
Isaac Brumbaugh. A venerable and honored citizen who is now living retired in the attractive Village of Hartville, in Lake Township, is he whose name initiates this paragraph. His active career was one of long and specially successful association with the basic industry of agriculture and prior to establishing his home in Hartville lie had been the owner of an extensive and valuable landed estate in Portage County.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Lake Township, 1814 to 1930
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Lake Township post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lake Township rank for history?
Lake Township is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns, #450 of 993 in Ohio. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Lake Township?
4 listings: 1 building and 1 historic district, the Stewart, Harry Bartlett, Property, with 5 contributing buildings. 8 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Lake Township?
8% of Lake Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 15% for an Ohio town; the median home was built in 1979.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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